Another Hope's Peak
by PaperKayak
Summary: What could be more despairful than twenty OCs in a mutual killing game? Nothing I can think of. Cliche story idea? Maybe. Tons of fun for me? Absolutely. Class is in session; let the game begin! (Cross-posted on tumblr)
1. Chapter 1

For student bios and other bonus content, visit anotherhopespeak on tumblr.

* * *

A gentle little lass with a heart of gold and a thumb of green.

A virtuoso who fancies herself the sinful temptation of audiences everywhere.

A scientist who could take on the world with the contents of a single test tube, if she dared.

A girl who walks a dangerous, if flashy, line between chaos and control.

A taciturn swordsman who prefers to do his talking through a foil.

A graceful snowflake on the ice, formidable as a blizzard to anything in her way.

A burglar whose stealth and sleight of hand are exceeded only by his greed.

A daredevil who flies close to the sun and never looks down.

A shooting star who exists only as an image on a screen, a carefully tailored avatar.

An artist whose lofty wordly ideals are splattered on bridges and subway walls.

A dramatist with an eye for detail and an intolerance for error.

A carpenter who built the bed in which he'd rather spend his day.

A disciplined leader whose life achievements decorate the sash on her shoulder.

A pugilist who knows his own strength, but knows his own weakness even better.

A multilinguist who prefers to hold her universally-understood tongue.

A boy who knew his way around robots so well, he began to become one.

A coxswain who knows that, eventually, he always has to come back ashore.

A soothsayer who can see every ghost and every loose end, except the ones in her head.

An intrepid reporter with his ear to the ground and his nose where it's not wanted.

And a red-ribbon achiever who got very lucky in the unluckiest way possible.

Twenty young men and women, all known for being the best at what they are, all hand-picked carefully from among all the high school students in the country. All of them found an envelope in their mail stamped closed with the wax imprint of a winged, crowned shield that well known to be the official school seal of Hope's Peak Academy.

The letters were full to bursting with praise for the incoming potential students, waxing poetic about how the graduates of the academy represented hope for the future, the great things the students can go on to accomplish, the merits of school's curriculum, the great fortune of the letters' receivers to have been selected to receive such a high honor.

A lot of big talk, really. But who could blame them, really? Nobody would have expected that these letters contained nothing but empty promises.

Well, no, not nobody. After all, the disaster to come was already being put into work within the turning gears of inventive minds, so those minds knew. They knew, and they were preparing to give these twenty students an academic experience that no one had ever so much as conceived before.

But I digress.

Each of the twenty recipients of these letters responded, and each eagerly accepted the invitation. Naturally. Who would ever be so foolish as to turn down the opportunity to guarantee for themselves a bright and prosperous future?

Preparations were made. Even long before the beginning of the new school year, the twenty students became household names among the many teens who followed the Hope's Peak forums religiously, discussing the new recruits, picking their favorites, wondering and theorizing about who these people are and what they're going to become. And on the day indicated in the acceptance letters, the students gathered from all corners of the country to join in the welcoming ceremony and orientation at the school that they knew would be a significant step toward a lifetime of success.

They all had the opportunity to stand before the breathtaking edifice, prominent against the city's skyling, that was the main building of the Hope's Peak Academy campus, some of them seeing the place for the first time in their lives. There was undeniably a certain majesty to the building, although it is hard to say for certain whether this came from the architectural feat itself, or simply from the knowledge of what went on inside.

The new students were told to gather in the entrance hall at eight in the morning, and none risked being late. Each student, after granting the face of the building the awe it was due, approached the entrance of the building, climbing the little stone steps leading toward the front doors.

Looking back, it's too bad they didn't take the time to soak those last few steps in. Climbing those stairs was the last moment in each of those twenty lives when things were normal, when things were going according to plan. When the world was all in order and no one needed to fear anything worse than poor marks on a test.

Oh well. What was that saying about spilled milk?

The final step from the outside world and into the school was the one that took them over the threshold of the entryway and into the grand foyer serving as the entrance hall. None of the twenty students got to experience that step in full. They each lifted their foot, passed through the doorway, and then –

Darkness.

Nothing.

…

…

…

…

…

Inside the walls of the school and outside, throughout the neighborhood for nearly a mile all around, the brass school bell's chimes could be heard.

 _Bong!_

 _Bong!_

 _Bong!_

 _Bong!_

 _Bong!_

 _Bong!_

 _Bong!_

 _Bong!_

Then, silence.


	2. Chapter 2

For student bios and other bonus content, visit anotherhopespeak on tumblr.

* * *

The next scene in the memory of any of the Hope's Peak students was waking up in a darkened classroom. Alone. There was no dearth of space available in the main building, and God forbid any of the twenty would be deprived of the despair that comes with waking to find themselves utterly alone in a strange silence.

The loneliness, of course, was short lived, as the classrooms were not locked, and any perfunctory exploration of any of the rooms would reveal as much. And a teen who was considered the very best in their field would certainly have the good sense to look around their surprise lodgings.

Outside each room and in the hallways, neon exit signs and muted, gray floodlights that hung over doorways and lined the ceilings all pointed toward a singluar destination. As the paths illuminated by these lights were the only ones in the building that weren't plunged in total darkness, logic brought the students slowly following down the echoing hallways.

One at a time, the students reached one of the sets of doors to which these hallways led: the entrances to the gymnasium.

Twenty students filtered in within minutes of each other, and at first, none could bring themselves to give their fellow students more than a cursory nod of introduction. It wasn't until everyone had reached the gymnasium that one of the students finally cleared their throat, beckoning the attention of their classmates.

"So," began the student who had made the sound, a girl with curly hair dyed a bright pink, wearing thick, square-framed glasses and a headband that featured, of all things, antenna-like pom-poms. "I guess one of us is gonna have to be the first to ask. Did anyone else think there was something just a little strange about how they ended up here?"

A few of the students let some tension out of their shoulders at her question; it was at least comforting to know that the bizarre scenario they'd just gone through was shared. One student, who ruffled gray hair and wore faded, baggy blue jeans, actually let out a breathy laugh. "Oh, thank God," he sighed. "I was starting to be afraid I'd eaten some funny brownies or something. Didn't think even I'd be stupid enough to do that on the first day of school though."

"So we _are_ at school then?" piped up a third student, a narrow-faced girl in a pencil skirt and a white smock. "I mean, of course, I came to the entrance of the school and everything, but then…"

"Yeah," another, a muscular boy with spiked yellow hair, picked up as the girl trailed off. "Something went funny. But it's gotta be the school, right? I'm pretty sure I woke up in a classroom." He glanced around to the others, some who nodded a confirmation that he wasn't the only one.

A boy in narrow suspenders and a Gatsby cap bit his lip, eyes darting to each of his classmates in quick succession, brow drawn tight with worry. "All right, we're at school. But then, that doesn't explain – what is going on? I thought there was supposed to be some sort of welcoming ceremony this morning."

"Maybe this _is_ the welcoming ceremony," suggested a curvaceous girl in neon-orange top that threatened to fall down her shoulders.

A lanky boy with purple, half-shaved hair and dark gauges in his ears snorted, crossing his arms. "That'd be some fucked-up welcome. What'd they do, drug us? What sort of school pulls shit like that?"

"Well, maybe it wasn't the staff who did it?" offered a boy with floppy brown hair and a red sweater whose sleeves were tied under his collar. "Maybe it's the upper classmen or something, doing that rite-of-passage thing. What do you call it?"

"Hazing." The answer came flatly from a girl whose bushy, ash-blonde hair covered half her face and grew nearly down to the golden, eye-shaped pendant resting on her chest.

A slender, orange-haired girl shivered, bringing her folded hands to her mouth. "Hazing?" she squeaked. "I didn't expect there to be any of that stuff here…"

Ear Gauges rolled his eyes. "Come on, all these elite schools have a bit of hazing. Comes with the territory."

"I don't know…" a girl with lavender hair held in a large purple bow said slowly. "Hazing usually involves, say, public embarrassment. Not just drugging people and sticking them in abandoned classrooms."

Gatsby Cap snapped his head toward her, eyes wide in surprise. "Wait, you think we were drugged?"

Purple Bow simply shrugged. "Well, I can't think of any other reason I would've lost consciousness. And it would be an awfully big coincidence if everyone in this room simply fainted all at once due to natural causes."

"We could've been knocked out physically?" suggested a tall, willowy boy who was made even taller by the electric-blue hair that stuck up several inches high from around a pair of aviator goggles.

"Like hell," Muscular Boy grunted. "There ain't an upper classman in the world who can knock me out in a sneak attack."

"Besides," added a girl in a sparkling pink dress as she reached up to feel her head under her waterfall of hair, "I'm pretty sure if I'd been knocked out physically, I'd have the mother of all headaches right now."

"So," said a boy in a green-striped shirts and round, wire-framed glasses. "It doesn't seem like a welcome ceremony, it doesn't seem like hazing –"

"Or if it is, it's the weirdest hazing I've ever heard of," Antenna Headband commented.

Green Stripes offered her a nod before concluding, "So what exactly is – ?"

Once again he was interrupted, but this time it wasn't by one of his fellow students. Instead, a burst of microphone feedback echoed throughout the gymnasium. Most of the students clapped their hands over their ears, and all turned toward the source of the sound, the enormous speakers mounted at one end of the gymnasium, at either end of a raised stage. The only microphone that could have made the sound, though, was one situated atop a wooden podium at the stage's center, a podium that was clearly empty.

When the feedback trailed away, the gym was left in silence for a few moments, save for a few whispered exclamations of "what the fuck" from among the students.

Then, the speakers crackled to life again, this time blaring a high, grating voice that addressed the students from some unseen source.

"Testing, testing! Ooh, sorry, kiddos, gotta get the AV kids to see if they can do something about this old mic! But more importantly, welcome one and all! You must be the new blood at Hope's Peak Academy!"

The name of the school was said dramatically, drawn out like an announcement, and a pause followed. In any normal welcoming address, such a pause might be filled by applause, but the students simply stared toward the stage or at the speakers, varying degrees of befuddlement written on their faces.

"Really, nothing?" the voice continued. "Not even a clap? Wow, you'd think an omnipotent voice from nowhere would command a little more respect! Oh well, oh well. Maybe you're just not prepared to handle me on that scale yet. Pick up your jaws, ladies and germs, I'm coming in!"

The students at the edges of the groups turned toward the doors lining the walls, expecting the owner of the voice to walk through, but their attentions were directed back toward the stage as they heard a _sproing_ , as of the plucking of a giant rubber band, from the stage.

And there, onto the top of the podium, landed a teddy bear.


	3. Chapter 3

For student bios and other bonus content, visit anotherhopespeak on tumblr.

* * *

For a long moment, silence reigned in the gymnasium. The students could bring themselves to do nothing expect stare at the little creature at the podium, some with mouths agape, all thoroughly confused. The bear was the only one moving, darting its head back and forth among the faces in the sparse crowd, fixating each of them with two stares: one from the round eye on the white half of his eyes, and one from the crimson gash that passed for an eye on the other half, the black half on which half the face was covered by a pointy-toothed grin.

The silence was finally broken when the bear began to laugh, a snide chortle in that grating voice that had previously been coming out of the speakers, pressing his paws to his belly and shaking with the laughter. His robotic face, despite the default smiling expression being permanently etched onto his features, even seemed to reflect that menacing glee.

"Well, well, well!" the bear said as he finished laughing and wiped a non-existent tear from below his red eye. "Isn't this a fine welcome for your headmaster! Honestly, you people look like you've never seen a bear before! Close your mouths, geniuses, you'll catch flies."

Goggles Boy was the first to find his voice again. "H-headmaster?" he spluttered out. "What are you – ?"

"That's right!" the bear interrupted him, spreading his arms and dipping into a deep bow. "The name's Monokuma. Monokuma-sensei to you rugrats, or even Monokuma-sama if you're feeling generous. Don't worry, blasphemy's not against any rule in this school."

Silence for another moment, and then a student started laughing. "Oh man," Baggy Jeans said through his chuckle. "When this school wants to mess with the underclassmen, they really get creative, don't they? Don't think I've ever been pranked with a remote-controlled bear toy before."

Monokuma settled his gaze on the boy. "Who are you calling a toy, Chuckles? Were you not listening before? I'm the headmaster."

The boy's comment, though, had already begun to lighten the tension in the room. The students around him relaxed their shoulders or released held breaths, some smiling. One, girl in olive overalls and green pigtails, even joined in the laughing, her hands to her face to smother her giggles. Pink Dress, though, simply rolled her eyes. "Seriously? The most presitigious school in the country starts off its school year with a ceremony led by a teddy bear?"

"Aw, lighten up," Muscular Blond, who was standing beside her, said, giving her a punch on the arm that earned him a death glare. "Besides, this probably isn't the ceremony, just some upperclassman prank."

"So, when's the real ceremony starting?" asked a girl in a yellow neckerchief and blue bucket hat, peering back up at Monokuma.

For a few moments more, the students buzzed about with quiet laughter and mumbled comments about the proceedings so far, while the bear looked on. Then, an enormous bang sounded throughout the gym, making several students jump, and bringing all attention back to the podium that Monokuma had just hit with an enormous gavel.

"That's better," he said. His voice was darker now, sharper, more business-like. "Are you people like this with all your headmasters? Just ignore them and talk amongst yourselves while they're trying to give a speech? If so, I guess I've got my work cut out for me, having to put an end to that sort of behavior."

Bucket Hat stiffened, standing at attention and raising her hand to her forehead in a salute. "Sorry, sir! Won't happen again!"

Orange Shirt gave her a light shove. "Dude, it's a _teddy bear_. You don't have to salute it."

"Yeah," another boy muttered from nearby, whose whole outfit from his sneakers to his beanie was stained with neon splatters of paint. "Wait for the real headmaster to show up."

"The _real_ headmaster?" Monokuma repeated. "Geez, you people really are slow. Fine, you know what? Don't take my word for it. You've got plenty of time to come to the realization of who's in charge here. Probably another sixty-some years, if the current stats on life expectancy can be believed."

Once again the students looked baffled. "What are you talking about?" a brown-haired boy in a sweater covering a white button-down asked.

"Well, we only take the best and the brightest at Hope's Peak, right?" Monokuma said, cocking his head to the side. "So we've got the highest caliber of students in Japan all right here in the same building. Why hang onto them for only a few years? Nah, it makes much more sense to keep you here for the rest of your lives. Say hello to your new home from now until ready for an urn!"

That got a reaction. After a few seconds during which the students wrapped their heads around what they'd just heard, a flood of exclamations broke out, choruses of "What?!" and "Are you fucking kidding me?" and "You're crazy!" bouncing off the walls of the gymnasium.

Monokuma just laughed again before clambering down off the podium and bouncing onto the floor of the gym. "Aw, don't get your knickers in a twist! It's a good life here, you know. We've got the budget to keep you people fed and happy until your dying breaths. I mean, sure, the wi-fi's not great, but I'd say the sacrifice is worth it. Besides, we need you to be cut off from the outside world while you're here. Keep your minds clear and all, right?"

"When you say 'cut off from the outside'…" began a freckle-faced girl with her hair in a long, thin braid, narrowing her eyes.

"Surely you noticed?" Monokuma said, bringing his paws to his cheeks as if in surprise. "I mean, I figured that the metal plates on all the windows in the school would have tipped you off. What, did you think they were just there for decoration?"

Eyes widened throughout the gym at that remark. Most of the students had simply forgotten about the state of the classrooms in which they woke up, but now that he mentioned it, it _was_ suspicious. And it seemed like overkill for a start-of-the-year prank.

"Oh, now you remember, do you? Yep, this school has been fortified for your convenience. Bang on the doors and scream all you want, it won't make a lick of difference. Hey, now, don't give me that look," he added, holding up his paws defensively in response to the glares the students were throwing his way. "You people accepted the invitations, and you all walked into the school on your own power. That counts as a permission slip in my book."

"We – we didn't sign up for _this_!" Antenna Headband cried, her voice cracking with fury. "No one wants to stay in this school for _life_!"

"Well, you raise an excellent point, Ladybug," Monokuma said, acknowledging her with a little half-bow. "But there's no need to fret. If you really want to leave the school that badly, I've arranged a little loophole in the school rules. I call it 'graduation'!"

At the students' questioning looks, he went on. "Don't worry, people, I'll give you the run-down on all the school rules in a minute. The gist of them, though, is that as long as you're within these school walls, you are all to live communally and peacefully with each other. If someone, though, were to elect to wreck that peace, then their gall will be rewarded with graduation for them and them alone!"

"Wreck the peace how?" Ear Guages asked slowly.

Monokuma turned to him, and the stationary fanged grin on the dark half of his face seemed to stretch as his scarlet eye flashed. "Murder, of course!"

His answer was met with a series of gasps and exclamations, but the bear ignored them and plowed on. "You heard me! Slice a throat, bash a skull in, smother 'em with a pillow, toss 'em in the oven, feed 'em to the sharks. I don't care how it's done. Just kill, and you get to waltz out of this school with blood on your hands and a spring in your step!"

He dropped his hands behind his back and began rocking innocently back and forth on his heels. "Ooh hoo hoo, look at the faces in this crowd! Is that despair I see? Beautiful! Delicious! I'd take a photo, but I think it's better to just enjoy the moment."

"Are… are you serious?" Gatsby Cap asked, whipping his head around to look at the other students as if expecting one of them to suddenly laugh and yell, 'Psych! I really had you going!' "This is for real?"

Orange Hair had brought her hands to her temples and begun trembling. "This isn't funny," she said, her voice coming out like a whimper. "Stop it. This is an awful prank."

By this point Monokuma's laugh was almost familiar, yet it still sent a chill down each student's spine as it began again and he turned menacingly toward the shaking girl. "Hot damn, are you really as dumb as you look? Wake up and smell the formaldehyde, kiddo! This is no prank! This is your life now! You stay, or you kill; there's no other option!"

"Hey, knock it off!" Baggy Jeans shouted, hurrying over and shoving the toy away. "You've almost made her cry! Seriously, cut the act already!"

Monokuma had fallen to the floor when the boy shoved him, and now was slowly returning to his feet as he turned back to approach the pair. "Act?" he said. His voice was softer than it had been before, and lower. "You still don't believe me?"

With a snarl, Baggy Jeans brought up his foot and stomped the bear onto the ground. "No. I don't."

Monokuma's eye flashed, really lighting up from within. "Ah, ah, ah," he chuckled. "Violence against the headmaster is forbidden. But, you know, you haven't looked at the rules yet. I suppose this once, I can let you off with just a warning. You ready?"

"Ready for – ?" the boy began, but was cut off when, all off a sudden, sparks shot from the toy. Tiny threads of lightning made their way up his leg and surrounded his whole frame. He screamed, muscles frozen stiffly in place as the electricity flooded him. It lasted only a few seconds, but to him and the witnessing students, it seemed hours. When it finally stopped, he collapsed to the floor, breathing hard and clutching his middle.

The students all stared, aghast, both at the boy, and the bear, which seemed to have fried itself out despite still shooting out buzzes of blue sparks.

"And that," came the voice of Monokuma from the podium, "was a warning. Be grateful I didn't punish you for real, kid! Next time I won't be so nice."

Every head turned toward the stage, where a new Monokuma stood at the podium, the burnt-out husk of the previous bear discarded and forgotten. He continued speaking as casually as if nothing had happened. "Best you guys take a look at those school rules as soon as the ceremony's ended. I've got eyes in every inch of the school, so I'll know when you break one. I believe now we can forget this foolish idea that this is some sort of joke?"

He reached from under the podium and pulled out a wallet-sized device that looked like a sleek, thin touch-phone. "Don't worry, I made it easy for you. A quick examination of your pockets will yield one of these bad boys – your Student ID. Got everything you need: school rules, school map, identification. Top-of-the-line and totally indestructible! Don't say I never did anything nice for you!"

The bear put the device away as the students curiously dug out their own, surprised to find that the IDs had made it into their pockets without their noticing.

Monokuma watched them all, satisfied that, at the very least, they now knew that they were in this for real, and must be taking it at least a little bit seriously. "Well!" He clapped his paws together. "I think I've said everything I need to! This welcoming ceremony has now come to a close. Feel free to peruse those rules at your leisure, and remember, I'll be watching! Enjoy your stay at Hope's Peak Academy!"

With that, he dipped into a bow, disappearing behind the pedestal, his laughter echoing throughout the gym even after he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

For student bios and other bonus content, visit anotherhopespeak on tumblr.

* * *

It wasn't until the reverberations of Monokuma's laughter had died away completely that anyone dared to move, and the first movement was in Orange Hair rushing over to where Baggy Jeans was on the floor, panic in her eyes. "Oh, God, are you all right? Can you stand?"

Baggy Jeans took a deep breath through his clenched teeth, then adjusted himself so that he was squatting shakily on his heels. "Yeah, I'm all right," he grunted. "Just gimme a minute."

"Should we see if we can find a first aid kit or something?" Pigtails asked as she tentatively approached and offered a hand up, which the boy accepted.

"I dunno," he answered. "What are you supposed to do for electric shocks, first-aid-wise?"

"Um, CPR if you're not breathing, but, you are, so I guess that's not necessary," Pigtails said. "And I think check you for burns? Are you burned where you were touching the bear?"

"My foot feels okay," Baggy Jeans said, hesitantly testing it on the gym floor, "So probably not."

"Can't electrocution also mess up your heart or something?" Gatsby Cap asked. "I thought I'd heard that before. Not sure, though. Hey, anyone here the Super High School Level Nurse?" A few people shook their heads no. "Super High School Electrician, maybe?"

"I'd think a Super High School Cardiologist would be best able to answer your question," Antenna Headband said, and a glance around the gym told her that no one of that title was there either.

The girl in the bucket hat cleared her throat and put her hands on her hips. "All right, if we keep this up, we're just going to be wasting our time for weeks trying to figure out what our classmates are. There's no good that comes from not knowing your troop. I'd say now is as good a time as any for some introductions – get that out of the way, nice and efficient. All in favor?"

She received a few mumbled assents, which she chose to interpret as enthusiastic agreement. "Excellent!" She straightened her back and brought her hand up to the brim of her hat in a salute. "I'll go first. "I'm Oshiro Yuina, Super High School Level Scout?"

"Scout?" asked Pencil Skirt, tilting her head ever so slightly in curiosity. "Wait, you mean, like on the committee that picks students for Hope's Peak?"

Yuina rolled her eyes. "No, like _Girl_ Scouts. Top ranger in Japan, thank you very much. So, if it's true this whole situation is going to end up all survivalist, you'll do well to have me on your side if I do say so myself."

"Of course," Pink Dress said drily. "If an emergency comes up that requires s'mores and friendship bracelets, we'll know who to turn to." Yuina opened her mouth to retort, but the other girl cut her off, addressing the room at large. "Kita Chinatsu. Super High School Level Violinist. Perhaps some of you have seen me perform before? I'm with the New Japan Philharmonic, after all." She looked around, and narrowed her eyes when she received no response. "Really? None of you at all?"

"Guess none of us are really the orchestra-going type," the boy with floppy brown hair said with a shrug.

"Fantastic," Chinatsu sighed. "And to think I was promised a cultured student body when I was invited here. What are you supposed to be, huh?"

"Oh, me? Super High School Level Sailor. Oh, and, um, name's Hachiro Ito. I didn't say that already, did I?"

"You didn't," Orange Shirt replied. "Hey, mind if I just call you Prep School instead?"

Ito's brow wrinkled in confusion as he turned to her. "What?"

"Oh, you know. If you're a Super High School Level Sailor, you've probably been sailing since you were a little kid, which means your family probably owns a boat, and every family who owns a boat sends their kids off to those fancy elite boarding schools their whole lives, no exceptions."

After a pause that confirmed her guesses, Ito asked, "So you're, what Super High School Level Detective?"

"Not even close," she answered, shaking her head. "Nakajima Kumiko, Super High School Level Pyrotechnician."

"No kidding?" Goggles asked, turning to her in surprise. "They invited someone here just for being obsessed with fire?"

He was close enough to Kumiko that she only had to take a step to punch him in the arm. "You're thinking pyromaniac, genius. I'm a _pyrotechnician_ ; I control the fire. You know, fireworks, effects for shows, that kind of junk." She offered a grin. "Although, I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a kick out of the stuff, but that ain't my title. Your turn, stretch. What are you?"

"Hashimoto Osamu," he answered. "Super High School Level Aviator."

Kumiko laughed. "See, now, don't pretend I'm the only one with an exciting title."

"Are you even old enough to get a pilot's license?" Ito asked.

"I am, yeah," Osamu answered with a nod. "You only have to be sixteen. And up until then I barely ever flew planes, just built them, and did a lot of hang-gliding and stuff. Though, okay, I did pilot a _couple_ of times before I got the license…"

Purple Bow eyed him suspiciously. "So, we've got an illegal pilot, our Super High School Level Arsonist over there – " ("Hey!" Kumiko snapped.) " – Any other criminals here I should know about?"

A low chuckle came from Ear Guages, who slowly lifted his hand into the air with a smirk. "Guess that's my cue. Miyamoto Koji, Super High School Level Thief, glad to make your acquaintances."

"Wait, are you serious?!" Chinatsu cried, jumping to turn to face him. "Come on, there's no way that's your actual title!"

"Really, o ye of little faith?" Koji asked. He raised his brow as he dipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a bracelet made of a string of tiny pearls.

Chinatsu stared at it, then down to her bare wrist. Her eyes shot back up and she spluttered wordlessly for a moment before barking out, "How did you – ?! _Why_ did you – ?!"

"Oh, relax, I'm giving it back, aren't I?" Koji said, casually tossing it back to her. "And it's just costume jewelry anyway – it barely weighed anything. What'd it cost you, five hundred yen, give or take?" Chinatsu just scowled viciously at him as she put the bracelet back on. "I just wanted a little challenge, that's all. The school would approve. After all, they brought me here to see what sort of tricks I had up my sleeves. Apparently there's a market for skills like mine. Trust me, I'm definitely not the first criminal to be a Hope's Peak student."

"True," Paint Splatters spoke up. "I can vouch for it. Tsukuda Rikuto, Super High School Level Graffiti Artist. Although, I have to say, I'm not all too thrilled about the title. 'Graffiti' has such a negative connotation, see. I hardly even ever paint on buildings that are clearly in use. My stance, though, is that art that is making a statement about the world has a right to be out where the public can see it, and it's a ridiculous bit of bureaucracy that demands that only works that are directly commissioned by local government have the right to be on public display. It's a blatant limit to free expression. So, all right, if some people choose to see my art as a so-called 'crime' then that's their prerogative, but I don't think –"

"So!" the girl with the thin braid interrupted, clapping her hands together to cut him off. "If you don't mind be cutting the lecture short, I believe we were in the middle of introductions. I'm Maeda Tomomi. Super High School Level Playwright."

"Maeda…" the boy in the red sweater said slowly. "Have I heard that name before?"

"Have you followed Hope's Peaks forums and such before now?" Tomomi asked. When he nodded, she continued, "Well, the Super High School Level Actress from the class above us headlined one of my shows last year. _An Afternoon in Ardor_. Kateigaho International called it one of the most poignant dramas of the last decade," she added, hoisting her chin up and smiling proudly. "And what's your title, hm?"

"Oh, um," the boy brought a hand up to sheepishly scratch at the back of his neck. "I'm Hisakawa Kazuki, and I'm, uh, Super High School Level Luck." He finished the sentence in a low mumble.

Purple Bow snorted, bringing a hand to her mouth to try, and fail, to stifle her laughter. "Oh, God, don't tell me they're still giving out that title?" she said through a giggle. "Honestly, it's such a joke. They might as well assign someone to be Super High School Level Random Passerby."

"Hey, knock it off," Muscular Blond said, crossing his arms. "Every ultimate title is welcome at Hope's Peak, even the stupid ones."

"Gee, thanks," Kazuki said dully. His cheeks had gone a shade of pink at the girl's laughter, and darkened even more at the other boy's attempt to help. "What are you, anyhow? Your title so much better than mine?"

"A thousand fold, yes," she replied. "I'm Ando Misaki, Super High School Level Figure Skater."

"Wait a minute, I know that name!" the blond said, eyes lighting up. "You were in the last Olympics, weren't you? For the ladies' singles?"

Misaki's lip turned up into a slight smile. "I was. I take it you liked my performance?"

"Did I! You were great, you should have gotten the gold!"

The smile remained on her face, but it had suddenly gone, her eyes clouded over darkly. "Yes," she said briskly. "I should have. Well, enough about me, right? What are you?"

"Super High School Level Boxer, Mizushima Kenta," he answered, bending slightly at the waist in an almost imperceptible bow. "Good to see I've got a fellow athlete in here with me, huh? We'll probably end up doing some balance training together or something!"

"Doubtful," piped up a cool voice. The girl with the eye necklace was peering at him closely, as if studying him. "Have you forgotten what the bear told us? It is unlikely that we will be attending any classes at all."

"Oh yeah," Kenta said, deflating a little and letting his smile drop. "That's true. Well, maybe we can still find a way to go jogging together or something?"

"While inside this building?" the girl continued. She brought up her student ID and looked at the electronic map. "I suppose you could run laps in this gymnasium or something if you are pressed, although it is not nearly as appealing as having a full track. No boxing ring or ice skating rink in here either, I notice. That's a pity."

Kenta sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Man, you're just a basket full of optimism, aren't you? So, what, you're the Super High School Level Doomsayer or something?"

"Occultist, actually," she answered. "Fujioka Sora, expert in cryptozoology, mediumship, and the broad field of paranormal study."

The girl in the pencil skirt scowled at her. "That's ridiculous," she said. "All science from centuries past points to such things being impossible, and there's never been any data to support the existence of the paranormal."

Sora turned her chilly gaze onto the other girl. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Mori Asuka, Super High School Level Chemist, and I really thought this school would be academically rigorous enough to know that – "

"So you're a scientist, then?" Sora interrupted.

"Well, yeah."

"As a scientist, wouldn't you be more interested in trying to unlock the secrets of the otherworldly than dismissing them outright? Aren't you supposed to be able to adjust your world view based on new evidence and experimentation, rather than look only for the sort of evidence that supports what you know based on what little information about the universe is currently available to humans?"

Asuka simply stared increduously at her.

"Damn," Rikuto whispered, his eyes darting between the two girls in awe. "That was deep."

"No it wasn't," said the girl in pigtails, shaking her head. "It was nonsense."

Sora was unfazed by the commentary. "We're all currently being held hostage by talking toy bear. I don't think we're in any position to be skeptical."

"… Fair point," Pigtails relented with a shrug. "I suppose you have plenty of time to prove yourself right, then. Oh, I'm Yoshida Aya, by the way. Super High School Level Gardener."

"Are you really?" said the boy in baggy jeans, who was still leaning against her for support on his wobbly legs. "You know, I've always wanted to try a bit of gardening, ever since I built a gardening shed for my neighbor – I'm Super High School Level Woodworker, by the way; Minami Hiraku – but I just never found time to do it. Or, you know, the energy."

The girl with the antenna headband giggled. "Sorry, sorry," she said with a grin. "It's just, I dunno, 'woodworker' – it sounds dirty."

Chinatsu wrinkled her nose and scowled at the girl. "Seriously? What are you, twelve?"

Antenna Headband smirked at her. "Hey, it's not my fault. The double-entendre was right there, I was just saying what everyone was thinking."

"She's not wrong," Kumiko offered.

"Thank you. Back on track, though, my turn for introduction too. I'm Tachibana Satomi, Super High School Level Cyberstar."

Gatsby Cap's eyebrows shot up in recognition, and he snapped his fingers. "Cyberstar! That's where I know you from! You did that op-ed video about globaliztion of Japanese popular culture, right?"

"Um…" Satomi screwed up her eyes in thought. "Do you mean my 'Should Anime Go American' video?"

"Yeah, that's the one!" he said, nodding eagerly. "I wrote a response piece to that over on Kotaku! I'm Kawaguchi Ren, Super High School Level Journalist. Did you ever see that article?"

Satomi shook her head. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Oh. Well, that's fine, I can just give you a rundown of it later."

"Can't wait," she said, her tone and expression saying the exact opposite.

The boy in the green-striped shirt cleared his throat. "If you don't mind not debating cultural trends right now, I'd really like to get these introductions over with. I suppose I can take my turn? I am Kuro Shimizu, Super High School Level Roboticist."

His classmates were silent at that remark, simply staring at him without a sound or movement. "What?" Shimizu asked.

"Um, well," Ito said slowly, "It's just, uh, you're a roboticist. And, you know, we, uh…"

"We all have been kidnapped and attacked by a robot," Misaki for him. "Convenient, hm?"

Shimizu just scoffed. "Oh, honestly, you don't really think I had something to do with that? Just because it was a robot? It was a bear too, you know. Does this mean we all need to go try to hunt down a Super High School Level Ursinologist? That's a scientist who studies bears, by the way."

"We didn't ask," Misaki said flatly.

"You didn't have to." Shimizu crossed his arms. "If you're dumb enough to think that I have something to do with this just because of my title, I doubt you're smart enough to have vocabularies of a decent size."

Koji crossed his arms, raising a brow at Shimizu. "Keep it up, asshat. You keep on insulting everyone like that, you never know who's going to take that bear up on his 'graduation' offer."

"Oh, don't say that!" Orange Hair cried, shivering. "None of us are going to kill anyone!"

"Yeah, sure, we'll see," Koji said. "You haven't given us your name yet, have you, Red?"

A hint of scarlet cropped up in her cheeks. "Oh, right. I – I hadn't noticed. I'm Yukimura Kaori, and, um, I'm Super High School Level Hyperpolyglot."

"… A hippo what now?" Osamu asked.

Shimizu sighed. "A hyperpolyglot is someone who – "

"He wasn't asking you, dickwad," Satomi interrupted. Shimizu turned to her, expression murderous, and opened his mouth to retort, but Satomi cut him off with a gesture toward Kaori. "Go on, you tell us."

"Well, um, a hyperpolyglot is someone who learns a lot of languages easily."

"Isn't that a linguist?" Ren asked.

Kaori shook her head. "No, no, see, linguists study languages, like, um, their history and structure and – and, um, like how they work psychologically. I just learn to speak the languages, that's all."

"How many languages do you know?" Hiraku asked.

"Um, twenty, so far. Twenty-one if you count Esperanto, but, well, most people don't," she finished softly.

Hiraku's eyes widened. "Holy _shit!_ How is that even possible?"

"I don't know," Kaori answered, moving her gaze to the floor. "I just pick them up easy. The Super High School Level Neurologist was going to run some tests with me once I arrived at the school, but, well, I suppose that's out of the question now…"

Yuina winced and stepped forward. "Look, let's not think about that part. I'm sure we'll all find our way out of this, no problem. For now, was that everyone? Anyone we missed?"

One hand shot up, belonging to a barrel-chested boy with large round eyes who had not so much as made a sound up until now.

"Sorry about that," Yuina said hastily, electing not to add that she hadn't even noticed him until that moment. "Go on, introduce yourself."

"Saito Ayumu," the boy said, his voice low and flat. "Fencer."

The others waited, expecting him to add some other detail as all the rest had done. When none seemed to be forthcoming, though, Yuina broke the silence with a clap of her hands. "Great. So, we know our names, we know our titles. I suppose for the next step, we should get to know the school? I mean, we've all only seen, what, one classroom, a couple hallways, and the gym so far, right? If we're going to figure a way out of here, we ought to know what we're dealing with."

"I suppose we should split into groups?" Kazuki said. "Just so, you know – no one is tempted to try anything."

"Works for me," Aya said. "I think Hiraku and I will head over and explore the infirmary."

Hiraku groaned. "I'm fine, honest. I don't need a check-up."

"Oh, just do it for my peace of mind," Aya said, starting to tug him along.

"I'll – I'll go with you!" Kaori said hastily, rushing over to grab Hiraku's other arm. Aya accepted the help, and the three of them walked out of the gym, Hiraku arguing all the while that he was perfectly fine.

Yuina put her hands on her hips. "All right! The rest of you, find your swimming buddies, and get out your maps. I don't know how big this building is, but we're gonna get to know it top to bottom. Ready?" She brought her thumb and forefinger to her mouth and let out a shrill whistle, causing several students to slap their hands over their ears. "Disperse!"


	5. Chapter 5

For student bios and other bonus content, visit anotherhopespeak on tumblr.

* * *

"Look, I appreciate what you're doing and all, I really do," Hiraku said as he reached the infirmary, Kaori and Aya on either side, the whole group looking rather silly as the two girls struggled to support the decidedly taller boy. "But really, I'm fine. The shock hurt, sure, but I didn't even pass out!"

Aya rolled her eyes. "Since when was passing out the threshhold for accepting that you have an injury?" She let go of his shoulder when they reached the nearest cot, letting him seat himself as she went to explore the drawers and cabinets lining the front wall.

Kaori sank onto a corner of the cot at the foot of the bed, crossing her ankles and folding her hands on her lap. "I just feel awful," she said softly. "You got hurt and it's my fault."

Hiraku turned to her, puzzled. "How's that?"

"I mean, you were defending me when that bear electrocuted you. You were just being chivalrous, and – and – "

Hiraku couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter. "Look, I like thinking of myself as a knight in shining armor as much as the next guy, but to be honest I thought all I was doing was getting rid of an annoying toy. I didn't realize it doubled as a taser."

"Oh," Kaori said, lowering her gaze. "So, if you'd known that thing could've injured you, you wouldn't have messed with it?"

Aya turned around at that question, taking a moment's break from her perusal of the school's medical supplies to shoot the pair of them a narrow-eyed look that seemed to say, 'Oh, this ought to be good.'

"Well, uh…" Hiraku sucked in his cheek and made a point to look at the eye-exam chart on the wall instead of at Kaori. "I mean, I'm not saying I _wouldn't_ have, I – we're talking hypotheticals here, so of course I can't really promise that – like, yeah, in retrospect maybe I – "

"Hey!" Aya cut him off. "I found the emergency first-aid kits, and they're all fully stocked." Hiraku sighed in relief at the interruption as the other girl returned to them, casting her a grateful glance. "You should probably take off your sock and shoe, so we can see the site where the shock came in."

"Right," Hiraku said. He bent down to remove them, then set the bare foot up onto the cot next to his so that the sole of the foot was showing.

Kaori and Aya both peered at the damage, and let out simultaneous hisses of sympathy at the bold red blisters that had formed there, a few offshoot tendrils of the burn climbing up toward his ankle like veins.

"So, it doesn't hurt, huh?" Aya said, looking back up at Hiraku with a brow raised in skepticism.

Hiraku answered with a sheepish shrug. "A little, but not enough that I was worried. It's not that bad. I mean, I once stepped on a nail with that foot, went all the way through."

"And, what, that made all the nerves in your foot disappear?" She shook her head and sat down on the cot next to Hiraku's foot, pulling the first-aid kit up beside her and opening it. She dug to the bottom and pulled out a small paperback guidebook, and flipped through it for a minute before saying, "All right, here we go, minor electrical burns. We're supposed to start by rinsing it in cool water until it stops hurting altogether. Hm, there must be a little tub around here somewhere. Help me look, will you?" she added, to Kaori, who had been watching silently and chewing on a strand of her hair. She jumped in surprise at being addressed, but nodded and joined Aya in searching the room.

"What do you want me to do?" Hiraku asked.

"I dunno, hum something?" Aya suggested, her focus still on the cabinet shelves. "Doesn't really matter what you do right now, I guess, as long as you don't step on it."

"Wasn't planning to," Hiraku grunted. He laid back down onto the cot with a sigh. "What a day, huh? You show up on the first day of school, you figure the biggest thing you need to worry about is getting lost in the halls."

Kaori nodded. "I still can't really believe it. I keep feeling like someone is going to sneak up behind me at any moment and – and – "

Aya paused in her search efforts to rest a sympathetic hand on Kaori's shoulder. "Hey, don't get yourself worked up. None of us are killers. I guarantee there's not a student here who would actually want to _murder_ you."

"You don't know that," Kaori said, shaking her head back and forth. "Sure, maybe no one's planning anything _now_ , but if we're spending the rest of our lives in here, someone's going to snap! Someone's going to want out badly enough, and then, well…"

"Aw, come off it," Hiraku commented from across the room. "There's no way we'll be stuck here for our whole lives. I don't care what that damned bear said, this sort of thing won't just be overlooked. We're going to see police battering down the front door of this place way before we ever have to worry about anyone here going stir-crazy."

Aya nodded in agreement, carrying a sense of finality as she turned back to resume her search, choosing to ignore Kaori softly repeating, "You don't know that."

She grinned as she finally found a good-sized plastic tub that was empty except for two packages of tongue depressors, which she tossed onto the shelf before moving to fill it at the sink. "Hey, Yukimura," she called. "There's a freezer thing over by the eye wash station. Could you grab me some ice, so we can keep this thing cool?"

"Oh, sure, I'm on it," Kaori said hastily. Aya heard the girl's light footsteps padding across the room, and, just as she turned off the faucet, she heard a sharp gasp that nearly made her drop the tub. "What?" she asked, hurrying over to join Kaori at the freezer. Hiraku was already sitting up again, leaning as close as he could toward Kaori in an attempt to see what had surprised her.

"Oh – ew," Aya said once she got her own glimpse. She stepped back with a grimace. It turned out that, although there were a few ice packs stored in the top shelf of the freezer, the rest was filled with neatly stacked and labelled bags of blood. "Ew, ew, ew," she repeated, shuddering. "What sort of school infirmary has blood bags? Why would they – gah, that is so – so – "

"Wrong?" Kaori finished in a whisper.

"I was going to say gross, but yeah," Aya replied. "That too."

"How did they even get hold of those?" Hiraku asked. "I thought only hospitals could take blood donations. A school nurse's office wouldn't count, right?"

"I doubt it. You okay, Yukimura?" Aya asked, noticing that Kaori hadn't so much as moved, and was still staring wide-eyed and pale-faced into the freezer.

For a long moment Kaori said nothing, until she softly asked, "How long does donated blood last?"

Aya raised an eyebrow and glanced over to Hiraku, who just shrugged. "Uh, I dunno," she said. "I think five weeks? Six? Something like that. Why?"

"Look at the labels," Kaori said, pointing with a finger that was trembling just enough for the shaking to be visible.

Aya knelt down for a closer look. The first thing she noticed about the labels was that they seemed to have every blood type covered with several bags, even the relatively rare ones like O-negative. She doubted, though, that this was what had Kaori so worried, so she squinted and read the other details. "The dates," she said slowly. "That's…" She closed her eyes in concentration to do the math in her head.

"Forty-two days from now," Kaori's hushed voice finished. "Forty-two days exactly."

"…Shit," Hiraku said. "So, those are brand new. Hell, they must have been donated just this morning or something! How – how did the infirmary get donated blood so fast?"

Aya looked up toward Kaori's worried eyes. "You know what?" she said. "Let's – let's not worry about that for now. We've got a foot to fix up, right?" She straightened up, took one of the ice packs from the top shelf, and slammed the freezer door shut, all the while taking care to avoid looking at the blood bags and trying to push any questions she had about them to the back of her mind as she retrieved the tub of water. They had more important things to occupy their time right now.

The blood could wait.


	6. Chapter 6

For student bios and other bonus content, visit anotherhopespeak on tumblr.

* * *

"Guess this must be some kind of AV room, huh?" Kazuki said as he shoved the door open, gesturing for Shimizu, Satomi, and Asuka to join him.

"So I take it your 'luck' talent extends to lucky guesses?" Shimizu asked drily. "Or did something give it away? Maybe the giant television screen, or the enormous soundboard, or the computers and DVD players at every desk?"

Kazuki's face reddened, but he was saved from answering when Satomi bounded past the two of them. "Oh, shut up, Kuro," she said. "We're all stressed enough without having sarcasm from you thrown into the mix."

"Is this equipment working?" Asuka asked as she approached one of the desks. She sank into the adjacent swivel chair and pressed the power button on the base unit. With a soft whir the monitor came to life, lighting up with a welcome screen.

"Thank God," Satomi sighed. "Could you imagine if we were stuck in here without computer access? I'd literally rather die."

"Don't let anyone else hear you talk like that," Shimizu said. "It practically sounds like an invitation to take the bear up on his offer."

Satomi whirled around to shoot him a dark scowl. "Excuse me?" she said. "Are you seriously trying to threaten me?"

"That wasn't a threat," Shimizu answered. "I just – "

"Well, it sure as hell _sounded_ like a threat."

"You were the one who said you would rather die."

"And you somehow thought that meant – "

"There's no internet," Asuka interrupted them.

Satomi and Shimizu abruptly stopped bickering, and they and Kazuki hastened to join Asuka around the desk to look at the computer screen. "Look," she said, pointing with the cursor. "Here, 'no networks detected'."

"Maybe that just for wireless networks?" Kazuki suggested. "And they're supposed to use ethernet cables or something?"

"Doubt it," Shimizu said, shaking his head as he walked slowly around the desk, examining the computer. "Don't see an ethernet port anywhere."

"So, hang on," Kazuki said slowly. "Are you saying that Hope's Peak Academy, the most advanced school in the country, doesn't have its own wi-fi network?"

"Not anymore," Asuka said. At Kazuki's inquisitive expression, she continued, "I mean, Monokuma did say he cut us off completely from the outside world. Cutting off our internet access would be a pretty big thing to overlook."

"Wait," Satomi said, her voice hushed and her eyes wide as she stared at the computer screen. "Are – are you serious? We don't have any internet? Like, at all?"

"That's hardly our biggest concern right now," Shimizu stated. "While we're stuck here we can probably at least still find a use for – "

He was cut off by a long _bang_ , as Satomi slammed her hands onto the desk, shoving Asuka in her swivel chair aside as she stared at the screen. "No," she whispered. "No, no, no, no." She took up the mouse and began desperately clicking through the menus in the settings window. "No, no, _no!_ This can't be happening!"

"Tachibana?" Kazuki said uncertainly. "You all right?"

"Tachibana, calm down," Shimizu said. He reached out, ready to take the mouse from her. "We need to – "

" _You_ calm down!" Satomi cried, ripping her gaze away from the computer to glare daggers at Shimizu. "You don't understand! My whole _life_ is on the internet! My whole _career_ is on the internet! I told you my title: Super High School Level Cyberstar. _Cyber!_ I need to be online! Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get the online following that I have?! _Pretty fucking hard!_ And now I'm going to lose all of it!"

Shimizu, Kazuki, and Asuka all shared a glance, none of them knowing how to handle someone who had gone into what seemed to be near-hysterics. "Um, hey, hey, Tachibana," Asuka hawed, placing what she hoped was a comforting hand on Satomi's shoulder. "It'll be okay. I'm sure we'll figure something out."

Satomi shook Asuka's hand away irritably and turned to Shimizu, shoving the mouse toward him. "Kuro! You're a computer nerd, right?"

"Roboticist," he corrected her.

"Whatever! You can still do something about this, can't you? You can try to fix it?"

"This isn't a robot."

Satomi slammed the mouse back onto the desk in frustration. "It's damn well close enough, isn't it?!"

Shimizu held up his hands as if at gunpoint. "What would you even want me to do?"

"I don't know, just fix it! Program it! Hack it! Install something!"

"Oh, of course, why didn't I think of that," Shimizu said flatly. "While I'm at it, why don't I go ahead and update the driver, maybe scan the processor, or jiggle the memory drive, or, hey, perhaps I should try torrenting the Bluetooths."

"I mean, if you think it would help…"

"That was gibberish, Tachibana. I can't do anything about the wi-fi."

"Yes, you can!" Satomi snapped. "Of course you can! You just – you just have to – "

The room was silent for a moment as she searched for words, but none came to her. Finally, slowly, she pulled over a nearby swivel chair and collapsed into it, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "This – this is fucking real, isn't it?" she asked, her voice coming out in a strained half-squeak. "We're stuck here."

"Well, I mean, we know," Kazuki said. "The bear told us that."

"I know, I know, I just – I just meant – it only just hit me," Satomi said. "We're really stuck here. This is it. We're trapped in here for the rest of our lives, we can't get out, we can't see or talk to anyone else again."

"We don't know that for sure," Asuka said quickly. "We can still find a way out. There's no way we'll all be stuck here forever, right?" She looked around the group for affirmation, but frowned in worry when no one gave their assent. "There isn't, right?"

"I think I'm going to throw up," Satomi croaked, standing up and walking on shaky knees toward the trash bin by the door.

Asuka watched her go, then glanced between Shimizu and Kazuki. "She's overreacting, right?" she asked softly. "It's not really as bad as all that. It can't be."

Kazuki nodded. "Sure. It can't be. It probably isn't."

Shimizu, however, sighed. "It's ridiculous, and far-fetched, and just impractical to boot but…" He looked back over to the computer screen, where the internet settings were still on display, mocking them with its blankness. "But it's possible," he concluded. "I don't want to believe it, but it's possible."


End file.
